1. FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCHING

The biggest initial problem in launching an artificial
earth satellite is to send a rocket into space at a speed
which will overcome the tremendous pull of gravity --
16,000 to 18,000 m.p.h. The Soviets' great feat in launching their
first satellite in October was made possible by producing
a powerful safe carrier rocket given this speed
by a mighty ballistics missile. A multiple-stage rocket
was probably used to get greater momentum, with each secondary
stage dropping off to earth until the satellite,
encased in the nose cone, was released.

2. PUTTING SATELLITE INTO ORBIT

The first artificial satellite was shot up vertically in a rocket,
probably from an Arctic base of the USSR. The rocket gradually
curved away from the vertical, releasing the 180 pound satellite at a height of
about 600 miles above the earth. It thus entered
its orbit travelling parallel to the earth.
This historic achievement needed a great
amount of calculations using rapid-action
computing machines to determine the exact angle or trajectory for the
firing of the satellite-carrying rocket, the exact speed and
the best orbit.

3. LAIKA -- FIRST SPACE TRAVELLER

The launching of a second Soviet satellite on November 3, 1957
was a great scientific achievement not only because
of the weight (twice that of the first Sputnik), and the
higher orbit (about 1,000 miles maximum), but especially
because of the earth traveller aboard. A special breed of
dog, Laika, similar to the Spitz or Pomeranian, was aloft.
It was strapped with various instruments measuring its
pulse, breathing, blood pressure, in a hermetically-sealed
compartment. Special chemical bodies produced oxygen
for it. Laika has opened the era of man's
interplanetary travel.

4. EARTH AND SKY OBSERVATORIES

Modern science has devised powerful telescopes to
observe the stars and the planets, the moon, Northern Lights,
and so on. But observatories on the earth are handicapped
by the dense atmosphere lying above our planet which obstructs
the view of the sun's rays and cosmic rays, to give
two examples. This is overcome by sending up
a fully-instrumented satellite above the earth's
atmosphere. Here we can
get a clearer picture of the great world of the skies,
and learn more of nature's secrets so that we can master them.

5. FROGMEN RECOVER NOSE-CONE

The friction of the heavy air blanket hanging over
the earth, plus the great speed of rockets, threatens to
burn them up in mid-air on their return to earth. In August 1956,
the nose cone of a U.S. Jupiter "C" missile was recovered intact
from the Atlantic -- a big step forward for science. It had been
shot up 600 miles and travelled 1200 miles in all before plunging
into the sea. It is believed the nose cone was made of porous ceramic
and metal alloys which can resist great heat.

6. U.S. MOON ROCKET

The moon -- 238,840 miles away from the earth -- is the prized goal
of space travellers throughout the world. In special laboratories
and experimental stations, scientists are working on models for space
ships to our mysterious neighbor. One such model has been designed
by Wernher von Braun, U.S. rocket expert. It is made up of a cluster
of cylindrical fuel tanks need for the long journey, a cabin for the crew
and a parabolic radar antenna at the tip for guidance in the vast space
through which the ship will travel.

7. BATTLE OF GRAVITY

The stars travel at fabulous speeds in all directions. If one
should ever enter our solar system it might cause grave damage to
the earth and even end all life. Our card shows what would
happen if a white dwarf star, whose gravitational force is far greater
than our own, came close to the earth. All movable objects -- buildings,
cars, trucks, people, ships, would be sucked up into the air and
drawn towards the star. In a few minutes the earth, and perhaps
the whole solar system, would be destroyed.

8. SPACEMEN IN SPECIAL SUITS

Spacemen will need special armor to withstand great speeds in
space travel, and the absence of oxygen in outer space, as well as for
protection against cosmic, ultra-violet and x-rays. This is
provided for in space suits being designed today. The suits will
have special pneumatic pants and sleeves which inflate with
air and keep the spaceman from blacking out by applying pressure
and checking the pull of gravity on the blood stream. Rubberized
materials and nylons are being experimented with for light but sturdy
space suits.

9. WEIGHTLESS MAN WITH PISTOLS

A spaceman operating in areas with no gravitational
pull will use pocket manual pistols. These will work
on the same principles as a rocket, moving him about in
the direction he wants to go (See card No. 6),
attaining space-machine speeds of from 18,000 to 25,000 m.p.h.
Centrifugal force will equal gravity and man will be in a weightless
state. Special precautions will have to be taken
to see that his blood does not boil, and that he does not
suffer nausea in this abnormal state.

10. BUILDING A SPACESHIP

Scientists talk of having the heavy spaceships assembled on platforms
or stations high above the earth, where the pull of gravity will not
be as great. Parts will be brought there from the earth by rockets.
The space platforms will serve as assembly places and landing points for
spaceships going to distant planets; and as great laboratories
permanently studying the cosmos. Vegetables for their staffs will
be grown by utilizing sun energy. They will be like simple
earth satellites, circling the earth at a fixed orbit.

Background

When I was 8 years old, I was in love with
space travel. While other kids collected baseball
cards, I saved my allowance for these rocket cards
(which came in a pack of five along with some bubble gum, I think).

I clearly remember when Sputnik I
(card 1) was launched in October, 1957
followed in November by Sputnik II, which carried
Laika, a dog! (card 3).

In those days (I sound like your granddad, don't I?)
there was a cold war going on, and the threat of atomic bombs
falling out of the sky was particularly frightening for us Canadians,
located as we are directly between the US and USSR as the crow --
or missile -- flies.

For a few months, the Soviets were masters of space, and therefore
the planet. The Americans tried desperately to catch up, but the
Vanguard rocket they were using kept blowing up!

These cards must have been printed towards the end of 1957 or
very early in 1958, because there surely would have been one for the
first American satellite, Explorer I,
launched successfully on January 31, 1958.

Many thanks to my son
Dieter Limeback
for scanning my rocket cards into jpegs and for encouraging me to
post them on my site. If you need freelance graphics work done,
Dieter's your man.

Update: March 2003

In January I received the following email:

The cards you posted were produced by Parkhurst.
The US card set did not include the first 25 space cards
that were part of the Canadian set.

Thanks, Geoff. The first 25 space cards
are by far the more interesting, aren't they?
Good luck finding the cards you're missing.

Thank you also for writing, because it
reminded me to get going and move my rocket
cards here from my old Interlog "tilde" account. It
took me only two months to get around to it.

My efforts, using Google and AllTheWeb, to find these cards
anywhere else on the Web were unsuccessful. However, Parkhurst
seems to have made a number of modified Canadian card sets; see
Zorro - Gum Cards for another.

When I first posted these pages in 1999, I managed to type
in the text from the backs of only the first ten cards
before tiring of the task. Moving the pages here to this site
meant a complete overhaul of the table layout HTML, in favour of
xhtml strict with css. This conversion was a piece of cake
using the search&replace feature of my text editor.

Thus with my strength and intensity then still more or less intact,
I managed to force myself to type in the text of the
next fifteen cards, the remaining space cards that were part of
the Canadian set, before tiring again. Typing is hard.

The American set, cards 26 through 50, all say
"By Permission of Colorgraphic Ltd." on the backs.
The text is obviously by another writer, consisting
largely of technical specs and manufacturer information.
I don't know if I'll ever type those cards in.